1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid evaporator for use in evaporating moisture or liquid from dirty waste such as household waste, human waste, industrial waste, sludge, etc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is known dirty waste which includes a large volume of moisture or liquid, such as household waste, human waste such as urine, sludge, and industrial waste which waste is subjected to evaporation to separate the liquid. In a known method for evaporating the liquid, the dirty waste is stored in a metallic container such as a pan, and the lower portion of the pan is heated. This method has been effected outdoors.
However, this simple heating of dirty waste causes the liquid to diffuse into the atmosphere, which results in generating a bad odor. Hence, such treatment can not be carried out in or adjacent a city. Furthermore, there are other disadvantages in that an open fire is utilized and a large space is required in effecting such treatment. To solve these problems, it has been proposed that the liquid be evaporated in an air-tight liquid container. A prior evaporator for evaporating the liquid of the dirty waste stored in the air-tight container is described with reference to FIG. 1.
The prior liquid evaporator comprises an air-tight liquid container 1 containing liquid therein, a ceiling integrally mounted therewith, and a heater 5 mounted on the ceiling and positioned in the liquid container 1. More in detail, the liquid container 1 is maintained air-tightly from the outside and has a space therein. Provided on the ceiling of the liquid container are an inlet 2 for introducing the dirty waste and an outlet or discharge port 3 for discharging vapor. The ceiling of the liquid container 1 has a socket 4 fixedly mounted thereon to which the heater 5 is fixed.
With such an arrangement, the dirty waste introduced through inlet 2 is stored in the liquid container 1 as a liquid 6 which contacts the heater 5. In such state, when the heater 5 is energized it causes the liquid 6 to be heated whereby the liquid 6 is gradually changed to a saturated vapor at the upper surface thereof, and the vapor is discharged through the outlet 3 to the outside. This structure is very simple. However, according to such structure, the whole liquid in the liquid container 1 is heated, and the temperature of the whole liquid 6 must be increased in order to generate the saturated vapor from the upper surface thereof.
Hence, there is a problem in that it takes considerable time to evaporate a predetermined amount of the liquid since the temperature of the liquid in the container must be increased as a whole. Furthermore, as the evaporation of the liquid progresses, the liquid depth decreases and the surface area of the liquid in contact with the heater decreases, whereby some of the heat generated by the heater is not transmitted to the liquid, which results in inefficient heat transmission.
Further, the assembly of the prior liquid evaporator, and the disassembly thereof for cleaning the container, takes much time.
Furthermore, even if the prior liquid evaporator is combined with a deodorant device to form a urine treating device, it necessitates a separate device for use in washing hands.